Hunter Henry Fantasy Upside Could Be Huge in High-Powered Chargers Offense

Hunter Henry has been teasing us with the promise of big upside for years. He caught eight touchdowns as a rookie in 2016, which is the fourth-highest mark for a rookie tight end in NFL history. He earned an expanded role in 2017, out-targeting future Hall-of-Famer Antonio Gates 63 to 52. Then he missed the entire 2018 regular season with a torn ACL.
Henry did make it back on the field for the 2018 playoffs though, and he should be back to full health this year. It's fair to say he's already had his breakout season, but playing in one of the NFL's best offenses, 2019 could be the year he elevates into the top tier of fantasy tight ends.
Hunter Henry has 115 career targets. Check out these TE's per 115 targets:
— Bobby Sylvester (@bobbyfantasypro) August 14, 2019
Ertz: 80 rec, 881 yds, 5.3 TD, 160 fantasy pts
Kelce: 81 rec, 1039 yds, 6.4 TD, 183 fantasy pts
Gronk: 75.5 rec, 1138 yds, 11.4 TD, 220 fantasy pts
Henry 81 rec, 1057 yds, 12.0 TD, 218 fantasy pts
The Chargers boasted one of the league's most efficient passing attacks in 2018, sitting tied for third with an average of 7.5 net yards per pass attempt while Philip Rivers finished fifth in quarterback rating (105.5).
Their offense is loaded with weapons, but the departure of Tyrell Williams opens up 65 targets from last year, while Antonio Gates (who is no longer with the team) and Virgil Green also combined for 72 targets at the TE position.
Henry has been on the field for 93 percent of the Chargers' first-team snaps in the preseason, and he's a safe bet to soak up a big share of this volume.
#Chargers TE Hunter Henry has played on 93% of the team’s first-string snaps over the past two weeks.
— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) August 28, 2019
Among all TEs from 2016-2017, Henry ranked first in fantasy points per target and second in fantasy points per snap.
One of the most efficient tight ends in the NFL, the uncertainty around Henry's health and the size of his role in the Chargers' offense leave him available at a discount.
His average draft position (ADP) of TE6 on FantasyPros.com has him going off the board as a sixth-round pick. There's a big gap in ADP between the top tier of tight ends (Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz and George Kittle) and the rest of the pack. With so much depth at the position, it can be hard to justify investing a second or third-round pick at TE.
Henry is one of the few players that has the kind of upside to finish among that top tier in fantasy scoring in 2019, and his discounted ADP could point to some serious value.
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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.